Arsenal Hacker 1, AKB48 Wikipedia Page 0

The worlds of English Premier League soccer and J-pop don’t collide often. But in a wry hack on a Wikipedia page, London’s Arsenal FC and AKB48, Japan’s biggest pop act of the moment, did so, temporarily.

Though the blackout on Wikipedia’s main page knocked out the site until midnight January 19, EST, the version of the site accessible from mobile devices was still available. There – and in a flicker on the main Wikipedia page for AKB48 before the screen went dark – AKB48 fans and critics alike may have been been surprised to find at the top of the entry that “AKB48 is a Japanese female idol group produced by Yasushi Akimoto and managed by Arsene Wenger.”

For confused AKB48 cognoscenti, Mr. Wenger is the manager of Arsenal, a top-flight English soccer team that’s won plaudits for its playing style under the Frenchman’s watch over the years, but lately has failed to land the trophies its fans seek, much to the irritation of some.

Normal service was restored on the Wikipedia AKB48 no later than 15 minutes after the site ended its blackout. But for the majority of the 24-hour protest, the entry proclaimed, “The group has achieved enormous popularity in Japan with it’s (sic) electric brand of quick pass and move football.”

It continued: “The group have recently been under heavy criticism however for their unwavering support of their manager, amongst calls for his sacking from those fans who believe the group’s pop potential isn’t being maximized.”

Whoever the hacker is, fan of Arsenal or a rival, he or she also sneaked in Arsenal references in song titles. “Mental Strength” and “Like A New Signing” did not place 1st and 2nd among Japan’s best-selling singles for the year in 2010. There are no such AKB48 hits, but the titles may be taken as reflections respectively on the character of Mr. Wenger’s teams and his move to temporarily restore veteran striker and former club hero Thierry Henry – turning 35 this year — to his squad in a brief loan deal from the New York Red Bulls.

It seems unlikely that Mr. Akimoto, the master of all things AKB48, is in need of managerial advice from Mr. Wenger, who spent time in Japan in the 1990s managing Nagoya’s Grampus Eight club. But after everything from inventing a computer-generated band member to an internet service offering fans a chance to have pictures of what their offspring with AKB48 stars might look like, perhaps an AKB48-Arsenal collaboration might not be that much of a stretch after all.